The study, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, found that in the brain cells of rats exposed to high levels of alcohol, a fish oil compound protected against inflammation and cell death.

In the study, Michael A. Collins, PhD, and colleagues exposed cultures of adult rat brain cells to amounts of alcohol equivalent to more than four times the legal limit for driving.

These cell cultures were compared with cultures of brain cells exposed to the same high levels of alcohol, plus a compound found in fish oil called omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Researchers found there was about 90 percent less neuro inflammation and neuronal death in the brain cells exposed to DHA and alcohol than in the cells exposed to alcohol alone.